Collector-rail support



1967 J. BETLEJEWSKI I 3,

COLLECTOR-RAIL SUPPORT Filed Jan. s, 1964 E LE: 1 9

lNVE/VTOR JOH/V BETL EJEWSK/ y 5, 9

Aflorney United States Patent 3,296,388 COLLECTOR-RAIL SUPPORT John Betlejewski, Bremen Township, Cook County, Ill.,

assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 8, 1964, Ser. No. 336,485 5 Claims. (Cl. 19132) This invention relates to an improved support for an electrical collector rail of the overhead type.

The conventional support for such a collector rail includes clamps fitting around the rail head and secured to a horizontal plate above the rail. This horizontal plate is in turn secured to rigid insulators depending from the bottom surface of a horizontal beam. The beam is usually bolted to a vertical post or wall.

Collector-rail supports of the aforementioned character result in excessive stress on the insulators, resulting in frequent breakage. Thermal expansions and contractions of the rail, caused by temperature changes, also put the insulators under severe stress. In addition, the insulators are held in tension between the horizontal beam and the rail and are thus subject to the entire weight of the rail pulling downwardly thereon.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a collector-rail support wherein the foregoing conditions are eliminated and the stress imposed upon the insulating means of the support is greatly reduced.

The attainment of this and other objects by my invention will appear more readily from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, shown in the attached drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an end elevational view of my improved support for an overhead collector rail; and

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational View thereof.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a horizontally extending bracket B is secured to a fixed vertical wall or column P.

A pair of insulators 2, best seen in FIGURE 2, are secured on top of bracket B by screws 3. These insulators are rigid spools which may be made of Fiberglas or any other suitable insulating material.

A yoke 5, made up of a pair of angles 6 and a top plate 7, rests on the insulators 2 with angles 6 depending below bracket B (FIGURE 2). Screws 9 secure both angles 6 and plate 7 to the tops of insulators 2. A bridge member 11, extending underneath bracket B, is secured by bolts 12 to the vertical flanges of angles 6.

Welded to the bottom of bridge member 11 are two angles 13, best seen in FIGURE 1, which have flanges 14 facing toward each other and adapted to be engaged by a plate 15. Plate 15 is welded transversely to a collector T-rail R, shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, and is free to slide on flanges 14. A grease fitting 17 in bridge member 11 permits introduction of a lubricant therethrough onto the top of plate 15, from where it will flow to the juxtaposed surfaces of the latter and flanges 14 to maintain a freely sliding contact therebetween.

Thus, when the collector rail R eXpands or contracts as a result of temperature changes, plate 15 will slide freely on the lubricated surfaces of flanges 14. None of the forces caused by movement of the rail will be transmitted to the insulators 2. Furthermore, since the insulators support the collector rail in compression, rather than in tension, each insulator is able to carry a greater load for a longer period of time without danger of failure.

While I have thus described one embodiment of my invention, modifications may of course be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Means for holding an electrical collector rail dependent from a fixed support, said means comprising an insulator extending upwardly from said support, a yoke mounted on top of said insulator, said yoke having a plate extending over said support and having sides depending below said support, and means mounted on the sides of said yoke and below said support adapted to carry said collector rail.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said rail-carrying means mounted on the sides of said yoke comprises flanges on opposite sides of said rail extending inwardly toward the latter and adapted to support the rail and permit a lengthwise motion thereof.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said rail-carrying means mounted on the sides of said yoke comprises a bridge member extending underneath said fixed support, and support members mounted on the underside of said bridge member and on opposite sides of said rail, said support members having flanges extending toward each other adapted to support the said rail while permitting a lengthwise motion thereof.

4. The support of claim 3 characterized by means for introducing a lubricant from the top of said bridge member to the area of contact between said support members and said rail.

5. A suspension for a T-rail comprising a horizontally extending bracket, an insulator upstanding thereon, a yoke resting on said insulator, said yoke having a plate extendv ing over said support and having ends depending below said bracket, a member bridging said ends, and rail-supporting means extending downwardly from said member on opposite sides of the rail.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,998,052 4/1935 Malm et al 19132 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. STANLEY T. KRAWCZEWICZ, Examiner. 

5. A SUSPENSION FOR A T-RAIL COMPRISING A HORIZONTALLY EXTENDING BRACKET, AN INSULATOR UPSTANDING THEREON, A YOKE RESTING ON SAID INSULATOR, SAID YOKE HAVING A PLATE EXTENDING OVER SAID SUPPORT AND HAVING ENDS DEPENDING BELOW SAID BRACKET, A MEMBER BRIDGING SAID ENDS, AND RAIL-SUPPORTING MEANS EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID MEMBER ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE RAIL. 